At the Louisiana Hayride Tonight/ Various - At The Louisiana Hayride Tonight / Various Artists

Time was when the Louisiana Hayride show at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana was the place for country music fans to be on a Saturday night. Just sixty cents for adults (thirty for kids) bought the finest night's entertainment anytime, anywhere. This set is a front-row seat as Hank Williams takes to the stage, first as a relative newcomer and later as a troubled superstar. Elvis Presley brings rockabilly to the airwaves before anyone knew what he or his music was about. A parade of home-grown and out-of-town country hitmakers tussle with one another for encores, and encourage unknown newcomers who would wow the audience with their songs and performances most nights. These long-buried musical performances are brought to life in chronological order interspersed with some of the announcements, intros, ads, comedy routines and mistakes that went to make up a live show in those days. Not least, we can hear Elvis Presley's epoch-changing music as it was originally heard-as part of a country variety show. At The Louisiana Hayride Tonight - Eighteen CDs chronicle the weekly Hayride. Two bonus CDs sample some of the post-1960 shows together with commercial recordings made in the KWKH radio studios, promotional discs and transcribed shows from KWKH's early days. These 20 CDs comprise over 25 hours of music captured on-stage in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s at KWKH's legendary Louisiana Hayride radio show. At The Louisiana Hayride Tonight - Staged live in Shreveport, the Hayride featured national country music stars, soon-to-be legends, regional break-outs, and talented newcomers.